A critical condition before students can transfer their learning is that they they understand the material thorough and in-depth and that they can apply their learning in diverse conditions. If students have not mastered the initial skill, then they will not be able to transfer it to another situation.
Have your students learned subject area information in a comprehensive and in-depth (Application or higher of Bloom’s levels)? Do they know more than surface information ( the mere facts about an event or situation)? Can your Modern Language students do more than list the vocabulary words for shopping? Can they create spontaneous conversations about various shopping situations? Can your Social Studies students do more than list the generals in the US Civil War? Can they compare the reasons for the US Civil War to other Civil Wars? Can they compare the results of the US Civil War to other Civil Wars?
Do we use technology to help the students to learn our subject area thoroughly and indepth and in diverse ways. Social Studies teachers can easily find information on other civil wars for the students to compare the US Civil War to. They can talk with students in one of these countries through email or videoconferencing (Skype or bigger videconferencing systems.
Help your students to be able to transfer their learning so that their learning is not pigeoned-holed but applicable to many other learning situations.
© Harry Grover Tuttle, 2007
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